Communications teams have more performance data available than ever. The challenge for marketing and communications leaders is turning those signals into a view of performance that can guide decisions and give the C-suite greater confidence in how communications contributes to business objectives.
Media monitoring shows where a company is covered along with important qualitative aspects of the coverage such as length, message pull through, recency and publication value. Social analytics track audience engagement, follower growth and website traffic click-through rates. Website analytics show how visitors arrive. CRM and marketing automation systems provide insight into buyer activity. AI visibility tools add another layer by showing whether brands appear in answers generated by ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Perplexity.
Each source provides useful information. Connected communications intelligence brings those signals into context, helping teams understand what happened, what changed and where to act next.
That need is driving the evolution of MetricsMatter™ 5.0, 10Fold’s communications intelligence platform for B2B technology companies. The expanded platform connects media, social, digital, competitive intelligence, AI visibility and business performance signals to support stronger decisions while programs are underway.
Key Takeaways
- Communications measurement is becoming a discipline that connects communications activity with broader marketing and business signals such as pipeline and revenue.
- Connected reporting can give CMOs a clearer, more trusted view of performance for C-suite and budget discussions.
- AI discovery adds new measurement dimensions, including AI presence, buyer prompt performance, citations, competitive visibility and AI referral traffic.
- Communications leaders can use connected intelligence to identify opportunities, refine messaging and make informed program decisions while campaigns are underway.
- MetricsMatter™ 5.0 combines connected performance intelligence with 10Fold’s communications expertise to help teams interpret signals and determine where strategy should adjust.
Communications Measurement Needs to Support Business Decisions
The communications industry has made significant progress in measuring visibility, engagement and message performance. However, leadership expectations are also expanding. CMOs are being asked to connect communications data with other areas of marketing and to business objectives so the C-suite can understand performance in a broader context.
10Fold’s 2026 Integrated Communications Survey of 400 B2B technology marketing and communications decision-makers found that measurement influences strategy or budget decisions with more than 80% of respondents. Only 49% are very confident in the accuracy and completeness of their communications reporting, and just 35% have fully integrated reporting across earned media, paid social, content and digital channels.
A connected view gives communications leaders greater context for understanding how performance signals work together. A media placement can establish authority around a priority topic. Executive thought leadership can reinforce that expertise. Social and digital programs can extend the conversation and drive engagement. Audiences may subsequently visit the company website, interact with additional content or enter the buying journey.
Understanding those relationships helps leaders explain how communications contributes to business momentum and gives them a stronger foundation for strategy and investment decisions. Depending on available data and program objectives, that analysis can include attribution, correlation and directional indicators.
Connected intelligence also makes measurement useful while programs are active. Teams can see where messages are gaining traction, where competitive visibility is shifting and where resources may generate greater impact, then use those signals to inform the next decision.
How Is AI Discovery Changing Communications Measurement?
The B2B research journey is changing as buyers use AI platforms to understand markets, identify companies, compare approaches and evaluate potential solutions. LinkedIn reports that 94% of B2B buyers now use AI tools during the buying process, making AI-driven discovery a significant part of how buyers research and evaluate potential solutions.
For communications teams, AI discovery introduces additional questions that belong within the broader measurement model:
- Whether (and how) their companies appear to prospects asking questions about their industry and solutions
- How their AI visibility compares with competitors
- How each AI platform describes their brand and priority narratives
- Which sources inform AI-generated answers
- How earned media and executive thought leadership contribute to AI visibility
- How social and digital programs contribute to AI visibility
- How owned content contributes to AI visibility
- Whether AI discovery drives the right audiences to company websites
Measuring AI visibility requires understanding the signals contributing to the measurement. Examining AI discovery alongside media, content, executive thought leadership and website content gives communications leaders a stronger view of the information shaping brand authority and buyer perception.
What Is MetricsMatter™ 5.0?
MetricsMatter™ 5.0 is 10Fold’s communications intelligence platform for B2B technology companies. It connects media, social, digital, competitive intelligence, AI visibility and business performance signals to help marketing and communications teams understand what is working, what is changing and where to act next. It can also connect communications programs with programs from other areas of marketing such as demand generation and website programs.
The expanded platform provides a connected view across media visibility, competitive intelligence, social and digital performance, executive thought leadership, other marketing program execution and website analytics. Teams can evaluate results across campaigns, launches, topics, executives, competitors and time periods, creating greater context around communications performance.
MetricsMatter™ 5.0 also expands 10Fold’s ability to measure AI discovery across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Perplexity. That intelligence can include:
- AI presence and competitive visibility
- Performance for priority buyer prompts
- Citations and referring sources informing AI-generated answers
- Referral traffic from AI platforms
Buyer prompt analysis can show whether a company appears for questions central to its market and how that performance compares with competitors. Citation intelligence can identify which media, content and third-party sources are contributing to those answers.
Together, those findings can reveal opportunities for media strategy, content and executive thought leadership. They also help communications teams understand how their programs contribute to the evidence buyers and AI systems encounter when researching a company.
How Can Communications Intelligence Improve Program Decisions?
Measurement creates more value when teams can use it to guide strategy. MetricsMatter™ helps communications leaders evaluate performance while programs are underway and compare results across time periods, campaigns, launches, topics, executives, regions and competitors.
Downloadable data and charts make those insights easier to incorporate into executive presentations, business reviews and ongoing program planning. A connected view can help teams determine:
- Which messages are gaining traction
- Where competitors are building visibility
- Which topics are strengthening executive authority
- How communications activity corresponds with changes in website behavior
- How communications activity corresponds with changes in AI discovery
10Fold works with clients to identify the signals that matter most based on their communications goals, business priorities and reporting needs. MetricsMatter™ 5.0 can support different levels of communications intelligence, from core measurement and reporting through AI visibility intelligence and customized reporting environments.
The platform provides connected data and reporting infrastructure. 10Fold’s communications expertise adds market context and interpretation, helping teams understand what the signals mean, where opportunities are emerging and how program strategy should adjust.
Building the Next Communications Measurement Model
The communications measurement mandate is expanding as the buyer journey changes. Visibility, engagement, message penetration and share of voice remain valuable signals within a broader view that can now also include competitive position, audience behavior, AI discovery and correlation to business outcomes.
That is the direction we are taking with MetricsMatter™ 5.0. Our goal is to give communications leaders intelligence they can use throughout a program, evidence they can bring into C-suite conversations and a clearer understanding of how communications contributes to business performance.
Learn more about MetricsMatter™ 5.0 and how 10Fold is helping B2B technology companies build a connected approach to communications measurement.